To be certain of the findings, a second survey of 2,793 respondents was conducted in November. âIn November, we again got very positive data,â he says. By positive data, this is what Markus means. Stepping through his findings, a supermajority was on board with Scott Morrisonâs response to the crisis, and the level of trust in government in Australia hit the highest point in the history of the survey.
People had confidence in the public health response. More than 90% of respondents in the five mainland states said lockdowns to suppress transmission were definitely or probably required. While the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, endured a period of being flogged by the Murdoch media for locking down the state, 78% of respondents backed Andrews, and when they were asked whether the lockdown was required, 87% said yes.
Scanlon Foundation chair Peter Scanlon. Source: supplied.
I was taught the value of migration from an early age while working at my parents’ newsagency in 1950s northern Melbourne.
My role was to appear at 7am each morning and serve newspapers to the many migrants who had moved into the area.
I would watch them grapple with the language, try to work out what two shillings was, mix up please and thank you, and occasionally, I would chuckle at them.
But I didn’t laugh for long.
Each time I did, two big fingers would grab me by the earlobe. It was my father, who would say he needed to talk to me. And he did. He constantly told me of the courage of those people. The difficulties they faced. And the skills they brought to Australia.
Year from hell: nation needs time to heal before hustings begin
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Year from hell: nation needs time to heal before hustings begin
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Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg depart at the end of Question Time in August.
Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
Events are famously the biggest worry for politicians trying to pursue their agendas, and 2020 has had no shortage of them.
The bushfires that bore down on holidaying Australians and blanketed much of the east coast in smoke as the year began were not yet out before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold. It has been for many, as Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese put it bluntly in Federal Parliament, the year from hell.
Aussies Positive on Post-Pandemic Future
Australians are more optimistic about the country’s future as anxiety over COVID-19 fades away, according to a new survey.
On Thursday, the Scanlon Foundation institute released early data from its annual Mapping Social Cohesion study, showing how public opinion has been shaped by COVID-19.
The survey found that in November, three-quarters of Australians were optimistic about the future. This is a five percent increase from July, when the country was still in the middle of the second wave of the pandemic.
It is also a 12 percent increase on last year, when Australia was coping with the bushfire crisis.